


Undercover Mode - Cover Affairs/Ugly Betty Crossover

by Auggie Anderson (FanficbyLee)



Category: Covert Affairs and Ugly Betty
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-09-28
Updated: 2012-05-09
Packaged: 2017-11-05 02:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/401269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficbyLee/pseuds/Auggie%20Anderson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I was watching Ugly Betty, and I got it in my head that Henry was a deep cover assignment for Auggie when he was pretty new with the CIA. So here is Henry's story told from Auggie's perspective. I've tried to keep it as close to Ugly Betty canon as I can.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching Ugly Betty, and I got it in my head that Henry was a deep cover assignment for Auggie when he was pretty new with the CIA. So here is Henry's story told from Auggie's perspective. I've tried to keep it as close to Ugly Betty canon as I can.

Character: Auggie Anderson as Henry Grubstick, Betty Suarez, Kenny from accounting  
Genre: Gen  
Author: [](http://sylar.livejournal.com/profile)[**sylar**](http://sylar.livejournal.com/)  
Fandom: Covert Affairs and Ugly Betty  
Word count: 1200+  
Rating: PG  
Notes: I was watching Ugly Betty, and I got it in my head that Henry was a deep cover assignment for Auggie when he was pretty new with the CIA. So here is Henry's story told from Auggie's perspective. I've tried to keep it as close to Ugly Betty canon as I can.

**The First Day – Four months ago**

I slipped the glasses in place and adjusted my tie. My hair was freshly cut, and it was smoothed down so much that I looked like I was getting ready to go to church with my grandmother. Grandma would like what I was wearing a nice bland tie, a plaid sweater vest, with a drab jacket on top, and a nice pair of tweed slacks. The person looking back at me in the mirror wasn’t me at all.

“Hello, Henry Grubstick. Goodbye, Auggie Anderson.” I took a deep breath and blew it out in a huff. “My god, the irony. You spend all those years training to do the most dangerous job on the planet, and they send you off to crunch numbers at a fashion magazine.”

The glasses were going to take a lot of getting used to. So was living in Manhattan and working as an accountant. It was my first deep cover assignment for the DPD, and I was a more than a little bit nervous. I checked for my bus pass and looped my messenger bag across my body and set off for my first day at work at Mode.

 _Spies are everywhere._ That’s one of the first things they teach you on the Farm. It’s preached at you like the gospel when you talk you through getting your Top Secret clearance. As I sat on the bus, watching the other passengers get on and off, I wondered how many of them weren’t who they said they were. My stomach grumbled as the bus fumes got to me. I probably should’ve eaten something, but I was too nervous. That’s ok. Henry can be a little high strung. It’ll become part of his persona.

I grabbed a bagel and cream cheese with a small bottle of orange juice at a cart on my way through the Meade Building lobby, and then squeezed into the elevator with the rest of the wage slaves. The floor for accounting was already lit up, so all I could do was take in the other people on the ride up. No fashion models at 8am. I’d have to find a reason to take a ride later in the day. I’m sure my supervisor would have some job to send me on later in the day, so I could get my bearings on the Mode floor. I had connections to make if I was going to pull off this mission.

After a quick hour wasted in HR where I signed a few papers with my fake name and social security number, I was lead through a labyrinth of cubicles to a dingy gray corner space that was my new home for the foreseeable future. Along the way the other accounts were focused on their work, fingers tapping away on the keys of their computers. They were a happy group of worker bees, and they smiled or shook my hand as my boss made introductions. He hovered over me as I typed my company issued password into the computer before leaving me to my own devices.

“Thank god.” I turned to see Kenny, the Korean guy, from the next cube smiling at me over the low wall. “I thought he was never going to leave. We’ve got a new Fantasy Football league starting up this afternoon if you’d like in, Henry.”

“I might be interested,” I told him with a smile then scooted forward in my chair and lowered my voice. “But…do you know where I can find a game around here?”

“Yeah, I’ll put you in touch with the Dungeon Master.” Fantasy football, D&D, and pretty models…this might not be so bad after all.

**Three Months Ago –**

Things at the office have gotten interesting since Alex Meade became Alexis and came back from the dead. I swear this place is like working in a soap opera. They actually keep a flowchart down in accounting of who’s stabbed who in the back up on the Mode floor. They had one for all the girls Daniel’s had sex with, but the lack of repeaters, other than the receptionist, made for a very dull chart. Not that, that part was all that different than a few of the guys I knew at the agency…including me.

But Henry Grubstick didn’t operate that way. He had an ex in Tucson, and he didn’t flirt with the models or anyone else at Mode. I was getting really good at pretending that I wasn’t looking when I got caught in the elevator full of hot girls in designer clothes. I tried to always carry something that I could pretend I was reading. My eyes were having a wonderful time, the rest of me, not so much.

Being a spy isn’t like in the movies. That’s another thing they drill into you on the Farm. You’re not going to wear a wig, change your accent, and bring in the bad guy in 40ish minutes. It’s going to take months if not years to achieve your objective, and if you’re going deep undercover, forget about family holidays. It’ll be someone else’s name on your Christmas stocking for a few years. And you might not ever get to shoot anyone.

It was payday, and I was delivering checks, paystubs in most cases, to the staff up at Mode. It was the one day a week that everyone was happy to see me up on the floor. As the newest hire it was my job to play delivery boy. I didn’t mind, it was good for my cover, but once a week wasn’t enough. I had to find another reason to be up there. You can only create so many discrepancies in the books before people start to wonder about your skill more than they do the person who’s supposedly screwing up.

She wasn’t my type. Betty wasn’t anyone’s type really. She was a nice girl. She was a smart girl. She was a normal girl in treading water in a school full of mermaids, but she did all right. The sharks gave her a hard time, and I don’t know how she managed not to hit someone. God knows I would have if I was her. The gossips were not kind to Betty, but what they didn’t see what her potential. Or maybe they did, and that’s why they mocked her.

“Hi Betty,” I said, grinning as I handed her, her paystub. She was dressed in a black dress with rainbow colored ruffles, and as usual her accessories didn’t match. She was a nightmare in polyester, but I still liked her.

“Um hi,” she said. “Thanks Henry.” She finished typing up whatever she was working on before looking up at me. She smiled, and she took the envelope. I smiled back. It was hard to see if she liked Henry. She was so nice to everyone. I glanced at her computer as she closed the document and saw her wallpaper. She was sitting with some homely guy and they were grinning while holding hands. The guy was obviously her boyfriend.

“You’re welcome, Betty. Have a nice day.” Betty Suarez could be my ticket to the Mode floor. But that would mean breaking her and her boyfriend up. Betty was good people, but she was tight with Daniel Meade. She’d give me a reason to be up here all the time, and unlike the pretty people, she’d find Henry Grubstick interesting.

I’d end up breaking her heart by the time this job was over. But what choice did I have. Next week was Halloween. I’d ask her to lunch or something when I brought her, her check.

to be continued...


	2. Chapter Two

A Few Weeks Later in Washington, DC –

I sat down across from Joan Campbell’s desk at Langley. My glasses and the rest of Henry’s persona had been left behind in New York. She always made me feel like I was in the principal’s office when she called me in, but the timing had been good. Henry had to take a trip out of town, and here I was. It was good to be myself after so many months.

Joan was quiet. She was dressed in a little blue dress. She could easily have spent some time at Mode herself a few years ago. Her blue eyes scanning the reports I’d sent in along the way. They were on paper since it was easier to destroy if need be than electronic files. Most people thought it was the other way around, but if you’re a good enough hacker, which I was, you could dig up just about anything on a hard drive.

“You’ve been doing a good job in New York, Auggie,” she said as she closed the file she’d been reading and sat back in her chair. “Have you had any luck finding out who’s using the magazine to funnel information?”

“I’ve gotten closer to the Editor-in-chief by getting closer to his assistant, Betty Suarez. Close enough that I was glad you summoned me.” She wrinkled her nose at me. Joan can be a bit of a bitch, and she doesn’t like it when you get sarcastic with her. “She’s broken up with her boyfriend, and I might be able to get closer still.”

“But you don’t want to?” That was a surprise for her. She popped open the file on Betty and looked at the picture. “Not pretty enough for you, Auggie?”

“It’s not that.” I know Joan knew of my reputation at Langley. They encourage you to fraternize within the agency, so that you didn’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not in your intimate life although I tried to avoid it. If I wanted a steady relationship, I might consider another CIA employee. But until then I was fine with one night stands. “I like her. She’s a sweet girl, and we actually get along great. I don’t want to hurt her, Joanne, and it’ll be hard not to. She has a crush on me.”

“That you can use.” That was also standard CIA protocol. The Agency didn’t consider sleeping with someone a moral issue. It was a means to an end, and try as I might; I hadn’t been able to shut down my emotions where Betty was concerned. I didn’t love her, but I liked her a lot.

“Yeah, I can use it my advantage. But I’d prefer not to let her think we have a future. I think I can get just as much information out of her and get just as much access to the higher ups at Meade if we’re friends without benefits.” I leaned forward and let out a heavy sigh. “I think that Henry’s ex needs to show up in New York to throw a monkey wrench into the Betty/Henry love fest. I know it’ll mean bringing in another agent, but I’m sure there’s someone in the New York office that we can use.”

“I like that.” Joan pressed her lips together as she typed her password into her computer. “I think we can find someone to cause a few speed bumps along the way. Are you sure that Betty won’t just dump you and slam the door in your face?”

“I’m pretty sure that she’ll want what’s best for Henry. It’ll cause some friction, but if it keeps Betty and Henry friends, it’ll be a good thing.” I got up, walking around Joan’s desk to look at the agent profiles she was calling up. She was plodding through them, but I had to resist the urge to reach past her to do it myself. Showing your boss that you’re better at something than they are gets you transferred to the Phoenix office or some other shit hole, and I liked working out of DC.

“Have you told her anything about Henry’s ex?” Joan asked as she put three profiles on the screen.

“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. I felt like I was looking for a mail order bride as I looked at the trio. “I like the red head. Her name is Charlie, and she lives in Tucson. That’s all that Betty knows. Henry doesn’t gossip.”

“I’ll call her in. You two should spend some time together before you go back to New York. It’s important for you to have a connection when she pops in,” Joan went on, talking about things I already knew. But I was new, and I didn’t want to piss her off anymore than I wanted to blow the mission so I just agreed.

Charlie’s real name was Heather, and she walked into the meeting room in a suit with her red hair up in a French twist. She was pretty. She was also all business, as she sat down across from me. But then I wasn’t exactly in flip-flops and torn jeans either. I was wearing a dark suit and tie like a good spook too.

“Agent Anderson, it’s nice to meet you.” She offered me her hand before she sat. Her nails were fake, and those would have to go before she got to New York. As polished as she was I was starting to wonder if she could pull of being a bohemian girl from Arizona. But if Joan had her on her list, she had to be good.

“Call me Auggie, or probably you should meet Henry not me,” I said with a sigh as I pulled Henry’s glasses out of my pocket. “Time to transform the dangerous secret agent into the mild mannered accountant.”

“Then I guess I should get used to being Charlie too although I haven’t had a chance to shop for her yet. I prefer to buy my own clothes when I go undercover. It helps me slip into the part.” That’s a good sign. It means she cares about the person she’s becoming not just the mission.

“I’m assuming that Joan told you that this will be a long assignment?” I have to ask. I also need to get used to her being around.

“She said it could take a few months, but that I won’t be as involved as you are.” She leaned back in her seat, and I could see she was trying to find the words to ask me a question in return. I had a pretty good idea of what that question was too.

“It’s kind of complicated. I like Betty Suarez. I’d be friends with her now if she worked for the Agency, and I could tell her the truth. I need you… well Charlie… to help me string her along. It’ll hurt her, but it’ll hurt her a lot less than me sleeping with her and leaving her when I’m done with the mission. It has nothing to do with her not being pretty. Contrary to my reputation around here, I’m not shallow. I’m just easy. I don’t want to ruin Betty’s life.” Which makes it sound like I’m god’s gift to women… “So, why don’t we see if we can get Charlie some clothes? I’ve got a company credit card with money to spare.”


End file.
